AN ADDRESS 



Delivered at Middletown, in the State of Rhode Island, 



21sT. DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1854. 



BEFORE THE 



AQUIDNECK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



BY 



J. PRESCOTT HALL. 



NEWPORT, R. I. 
CRANSTON & NORMAN, 

1854. 



AN ADDRESS 



Delivered afe Middletown, in tha State of Rhode Island, 



21sT. DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1854. 



SEFORE THE 



AQUIDNECK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



xv-^ 



BY. 



Jp^^PRESCOTT HALL. 



NEWPORT, R. I. 
C R A N S T N & NORMAN 

1854. 






MiDDLETOWN, Sept. 23, 1854. 
To J. Prescott Hall, Esq., 

SiK : — In behalf of the Aquidneck Agricultural Socie- 
ty, of Hhodc Island, the undersigned, a committee for this purpose specially 
appointed, are instructed to return )0u their thanks for the able and appro- 
priate address delivered by you on Thursday last, and lequest a copy for pub- 
lication. 

Very respectfully, 

Your obedient sers-ants, 

JOSHUA COGGESHALL, ? p„^„„-,,,, 
NATHANIEL GKEENE, $ ^°^^^^^^^' 

Gentlemen : 

The address which you have been pleased to commend in terms far 
beyond its deserts, is hereby placed under the control of the Society repre- 
sented by you, with a wish that it were worthy of their acceptance. 

Very truly yours, 

J. PRESCOTT HALL, . 
To Messrs. Goggeshall and Greene, Committee, &c. 
Newport, Sept. 25th, 1854. 



ADDRESS 



'' Quid faciat Isetas segetes :" " What makes the har- 
'■■ ' vests joyous : under what sign should the earth be 
ploughed, and the vines trained upon their supports : 
'^'whatis proper management for cattle, for sheep and 
^'"for bees ; for of all these, said the Reman Poet, I pro- 
pose to speak." 

Farmers of Rhode Island ! You need not fear, 
in the brief address which I am now about to deliver, at 
your request, — that I shall attempt to follow Virgil in his 
immortal work upon agriculture ; for, while I am wholly 
destitute of Virgil's genius, so am I as far behind him in 
all knowledge of the subject ; which was so complete on 
his part, as to leave us in doubt which is most to be ad- 
mired, the profound lessons he gave his countrymen in this 
important science, or the harmonious numbers in which 
those lessons were poured out. 

And yet, it v/ere an employmetit not altogether un- 
profitable, to study the works of this great master, and 
consider how much we are in advance of the ancients, if 
at all, in our information, as to the best methods in which 
the earth can be tilled, and our patient flocks and herds 
most profitably managed. 
The Greeks and Romans attached more importance to 



the value of frequent ami repeated ploughings, than the 
farmers of New England are wont to do ; and it may be 
fairly questioned, whether we of modern times have not 
receded, rather than advanced in this part of practical^ 
and indeed, indispensable husbandry. 

Something must of course be attributed to differences 
in climates and seasons, which are here, sometimes short 
and ahvays variable or uncertain ; while the skies of Italy 
and Greece reflect their azure tints serene, Avith a steadi- 
ness to us almost unknown. 

But in cognate regions, such as those of the British 
Isles for example, the practice of much ploughing is adopt- 
ed, and obtains more generally, and perseveringly, than in 
any part of North America. 

When I was in England, some years ago, I observed 
not only the direct and cross furrow, but in many instan- 
ces a third and diagonal one, which served to cut the soil 
in a new direction and subdivide it into smaller pa rts. 
And for this purpose, let me say in passing, that they 
frequently drive the ox there, in a manner not adopted by 
us, and which I think much inferior to the New England 
method ; for you would be amused to see four oxen har- 
nessed tandem-wise patiently tradging along, one after 
the other ; — the leading animal being so far from the 
ploughman, that he could hardly be reached by the fifty- 
feet whip which the Hottentott flourished from his cape 
wagon, as he drove Mr. Gordon Gumming, through the 
trackless wilds of Southern Africa. 

Tilling the earth, was of course, the first cmplo}'ment 
which engaged the attention of mankind ; and without 
referring to sacred writings for an illustration of this fact, 



we may, nevertheless, turn with propriety to the pages of 
profane writers, in ages far remote, to ascertain what men 
then did to fill their store houses and improve their con- 
dition. 

ITesiod one of the earliest of the Greek Poets, was liim- 
self engaged in rural pursits in the first days of his 
manhood ; and hence, when the poetic divinity w^as stirred 
witliin him, he put forth a work upon agriculture still in 
existence, and now the most ancient in the world, which 
he naturally clothed in the stately hexameters of his na- 
tive language. Homer, who lived at a period nine hun- 
dred years older than the Christian aera, has such ii'en[uent 
allusions to the employments of husbandry, l&oth in the 
Iliad and in the Odyssey, that we may well be persuaded 
that these pursits vv^ere not only honorable in his time, but 
that they largely engaged the attention of learned men. 

In his description of the shield of Achilles, he gives an 
elaborate account of the subjects selected by Vulcan for 
its adornment ; some of which were taken from proceed- 
ings in agriculture ; for he says, there was upon it, a soft 
fallow field three times ploughed ; and that oxen, the an- 
imals now employed by us for the same purpose, were 
driven on all sides by numerous ploughmen. 

In another place in the Iliad, however, Homer declares 
that mules are better than oxen to drag the strong plough 
through the deep flillow, although the latter were selected 
as more ornamental in poetic description. He also de- 
scribes the process by which the harvests were gathered 
in ; for upon the shield was placed an enclosure of wheat, 
and Avorkmen were reaping it with sharp sickles. The 
reapers vrere followed by binders, and these last hy boys 



^•lio gathered the hanJfuls as they fell, and supplied the^ 
binders therewith, and the sheaves were then fastened 
with cords. 

But the harvest seems to have been a festival, as well 
as a necessity in Homer's time ; for under an oak, servants 
were preparing a feast by the sacrifice of a large ox, the 
flesh of which, strewed with white flour by women, formed 
repast for the more dignified laborers. On another part 
of the work so artfully fashioned, w^as a vineyard heavy 
with grapes, surrounded by a ditch and rampart ; wdiile a 
herd of cows, with horns erect, occupied a place upon the 
shield at once curious and instractive; for from it we may 
infer that the mechanic arts were in the highest state of 
advancement 2700 years ago, since it is not at all proba- 
ble that Homer drew upon his imagination for his circum- 
stancial account of the form, the ornaments and finishing 
of weapons of war ; but must have described those which 
he had seen, and which w^ere in actual use amongst the 
ancient Greeks. 

From the passage last quoted, we learn that fences 
made by a ditch with the earth thrown upon one side were 
in use, as far back as King Solomon's time, and that the 
hedges of old England are not of modern invention or con- 
struction. One other thing we also know from the passage 
referred to, and that is, that the cows in Homer's time were 
not Durhams, since those upon the shield, had their horns 
erect ; and to this subject I shall recur again, when, in 
an appropriate place, I intend to say a word or two in re- 
lation to this breed of animals, now so wide-spread 
and so far renowned. In one particular, however,, 
they seem to have fared better when Troy was be- 
sieged than we do now ; for Homer says that as the 



ploughmen came to the end of the furrow, on the boun- 
dary of the field, a man approaching gave into their hands 
a cup of lucious wine, which made them more eager to 
accomplish their work. 

It will thus be seen that the maxims of Mahomet and 
Father Mathew are of comparatively recent date ; and htat 
laborers in the poetic ages of Greece, had failed to take 
the plodge. 

To come back to the subject from which we have for a 
moment diverged, let me remark that the notion as 
to the necessity of much and frequent ploughing seems 
to have pervaded all systems of ancient cultivation ; 
and the Roman farmers always ploughed hard land, 
at least three times before it was sowed. This was 
first done in the Spring, — the next time in the Summer, 
and the third in the Autumn. By this means, the earth 
was exposed twice to the heat of the sun and once to 
frost : but if the land was uncommonly tenacious and 
stubborn, it received the plow the fourth time, at the end 
of Autumn, or beginning of winter ; and thus says Virgil : 

" Ilia seges demum votis respondet avari 
" Agricolae. bis quce solem, bis frigora sensit : 
" Illius immensfe ruperunt hon-ea messes." 

That field, at last, answers the wishes of the covetous 
farmer, w^hich twice hath felt the sun and twice the 
cold ; and immense harvests are wont to burst his barns . 
The ancients, like the moderns, paid also great attention 
to the rotation of crops, using ashes freely upon their 
lands, and burning the stubble upon such as were unpro- 
ductive. 

The employment of various substances, to stimulate 
and quicken the soil is of the most anci ent date ; and 



marl of various kinds was used for this puqoose in some- 
parts of Europe, 1800 years ago ; different descrip- 
tions of soil receiving their appropriate dressing from this 
source. As to manure, the ancient writers give very pre- 
cise directions both for its preparation and use, the worth of 
each and all substances being carefully calculated and 
classed. One thing it is very curious to observe ; they 
placed no value upon the deposits of w^atcr fowl, — an es- 
timate which if correct, would place the Chincha Islands 
at a discount ; and it was only yesterday that I read in a 
newspaper, that the Eoman notion upon this subject, is 
becoming American also. The writer (a correspondent of 
the Courier and Enquirer who dates from Wasliiiigton) 
says "the ' Guano Question' occupied the attention of a 
" special committee of the House of Representatives during 
" the last session. The committee found that three suc- 
' ' cessive Administrations had made strenuous efforts to 
"reduce the price of Peruvian Guano, without eifect ; 
' ' and recommended that a duty be laid on Chincha Island 
" Guana, unless the Peruvian Government shall, after due 
" representation, grant to our merchants the right to pur- 
" chase the article upon the terms of the most favored 
" nation. Guano has proved an expensive delusion; some- 
" thing of a humbug. It was used by the Incas three or 
" four hundred years ago with great advantage, but istoo^ 
' ' fast for these times. It extinguishes the seed with which 
' '• it comes in contact, and nearly burns up the soil itself. 
" The price of Guano here is from fifty to sixty five dol- 
" lars per ton of 2000 lbs. Its use is chiefly confined to 
" the districts between the Delaware and the Capes of the 
" Chesapeake. The farmers in that region are coming to 
" the conclusion that the immense sums expended upon 



9 

" fiery stimiiknts to their soils hare been tllro^\ll away. 
"Its use has been particularly disastrous this year. It 
" destroyed nearly all the Indian corn planted with it. — 
" The replanted corn on the same lands came up, it is 
" trae, but was caught by the drought and will not mature 
" and the singular spectacle is presented, of a fair crop on 
" lands not manured at aU, and of no product worth gath- 
" ering in adjoining fields overspread with this costly but 
" most deleterious foreign subtance. It is estimated that 
' ' two milhons of dollars were expended last Spring by 
" the farm^ei-s of Virginia, Maryland, the District of Col- 
" umbia and Delaware, in the purchase of Guano, and 
" that they have lost five millions of dollars in conse- 
" quence." 

Farmers of Rhode Island, if we must be dependent up- 
on foreign nations for anything, let us never place our 
crops in peril by a neglect of the fertilizers within our 
reach. Never give up rock weed for guano, nor neglect 
your barn yards for the Chincha Islands. 

Lime was used on Roman orchards and on vineyards ; and 
applied in an especial manner to cherry trees, after they 
were brought by LucuUus from Asia Minor, about an hun- 
dred years before the Christian era. The ancients, we 
find upon reference to their books, were very ingenious 
and skilful in the construction and adapting of agricul- 
tural implements; employing most of those which are 
generally supposed to be of modern invention. They had 
harrows, clod-crushers, famiing macliines and ploughs of 
every variety, with mould-boards, double as well as single ; 
mth coulters and without coulters, with vdieels and with- 
out wheels ; broad pointed and narrow, with cutters of 
many kinds and fashions ; and the Egyptians used cyhn- 



10 

drical rollei'^, almost exactly like our own, wliicli were 
drawn by hoi-ses. The Romans also ridged their lands by 
back furrowing, as we do now ; and that too upon soil 
which was dry as well as that which was wet ; and in 
most cases they ploughed to a good depth ; indeed, as deep 
as we do, although they practiced some forms of plough- 
ing which we do not ; the object being to stir the earth 
in narrow and perfectly straight lines, so as to present a 
soil w^ell pulverized and lightened up, with a surface sur- 
prisingly even and level. Ploughing indeed with the an- 
cients was of the last importance, and one of their writers 
asks, M'hat is the first requisite in good cultivation ? To 
w^hich he answers to plough well. What is the second ? 
to plough ; what the third ? to manure ; and these an- 
swers became maxims amongst the ancient farmers. And 
they w^ere in fact much more attentive to all modes of 
cultivation by stirring the earth, than we arc, for their 
fields were so sown, that the grain came up in rows, sepera- 
ted by intervals wide enough for the passage of a plough 
which was applied to these intervals, even after the crop 
had attained to a considerable height. Wheat and barley 
were aftewards hoed at least twice and sometimes oftener. 

Reaping machines were also in use in ancient times, 
propelled by oxen ; and this modern idea, wdiich created 
such sensation at the Crystal Palace in London, a short 
time since, is as old as our religion. The machine not 
only cut off the ears of wheat, but dropped them into a 
proper receiver, and it answered as well on open and lev- 
el land, as it now docs upon the western praries. 

Threshing was performed in all the various ways 
adopted by us, by the flail, by horses and oxen to 
tread out the seed; and the Carthagcnians, it is said 



11 

used thresliing macMnes, driven by the power of an- 
mals, long before their subjugation by the Romans. Rol- 
lers were employed for various purposes in Roman hus- 
bandry and especially for the laying down of a surfoce hard 
and even for their threshing floors. Fanning miUs were 
also in use, or machines of like effect, while selves served 
to assist in cleaning the grain more thoroughly. The art 
of cheese making was as perfect 2000 years ago, as it is 
now ; and that which was most liked at Rome, was pro- 
duced in the mountainous region near Rodez in the South 
of France. It was made of ewe's milk, and bore an un- 
usual price. How much of advance then have we made 
in this art, since Gaul furnished Rome with one of its 
great luxuries ? Why, this very cheese, now know^n as 
Roquefort, is, to my taste, the best in the world, and it 
still bears its ancient reputation, being made in the same 
manner, and maintaining its original value. The moderns 
in this one particular, have made no step forward, but are 
glad to be able to maintain the ground on which the an- 
cients stood. 

All the fertilizers of land known to us were known al- 
so to the Greeks and Romans. They gathered them to- 
gether as we do, and sheltered them from wind and sun, 
in hollow water-tight receptacles. These fertilizers they 
applied frequently in Spring'^ and Autumn, but in moderate 
quantities each time, and they supposed that wet land 
demanded nourishment of this kind, more than dry ; an 
opinion, in wdiich, from a little experience on a very wet 
farm I am inclined to concur. 

The mixing of earths, the light with the heavy and 
the rich with the unproductive, was much practised as a 



12 

substitute for better fertilizers, and sometimos chalk was 
applied to sandy land and sand to chalky. 

Every kind of fence used by us, both living and dead, 
was employed also by the Romans ; from the quick fence, 
or hedge, down to walls of stone and mud. And here 
let me throw in a word about stone walls, so strong and 
useful in practice, but which disfigure the fair face of our 
beautiful Island so much. It has generally been supposed 
that old England is wholly destitute of these ornaments, 
and that all her fences are picturesque and tasteful. Not 
so. I have ridden for miles in her midland counties by 
the side of rude stone w\alls constructed exactly like our 
own, equally strong, equally useful, equally straight, 
equally monotonous, and equally ugly. It is true that 
graceful hedges abound in England ; but our fathers 
brought the art of making stone walls, as they did their 
language from the counties in which they were born ; 
and there is not one word or expression, no, not a Yan- 
keeism, employed in New England and supposed to be lo- 
cal, original and peculiar with us, but what is now in use 
in some parts of Old England ; as any one may prove 
who will refer to the very curious dictionary of Archaic 
and Provincial words recently published in London by Mr. 
Ilalliwell. 

But to return. The ancients had many works upon 
agriculture, giving minute and systematic instruction in 
the whole science and economy of cultivation ; from the 
first preparation of a field, do^m the final disposition of 
the crop ; and these books were studied by all persons who 
had the charge of land. A Roman author remarks, " up- 
" on the health of cattle, I have boiTOwed nuich from 
" ]Mago the Carthagenian, which / make my herdsmen read 



13 

*' carefidlij." These authors discuss all parts of husband- 
ry, mcludmg the description of a proper farmhouse ; the 
size of a farm which is most profitable ; the subject of 
cultivation by the proprietor, by a bailiff, or a head-farm- 
er, or by tenants ; and their conclusions would probably 
coincide, for the most part, with our own. 

Gentlemen, you cannot have failed to perceive, by the 
course of my remarks, that I have very little familiarity 
with the great business and science of Agriculture. My 
occupation for a long time led me far from the walks 
of nature to the stirring haunts of busy men ; from 
the fair fields, the pleasant valleys and sunny hills of 
Rhode Island, to the thronged marts and crowded pave- 
ments of a great commercial city ; from the seclusion and 
charms of a country life, to the exciting scenes of the 
forum ; where man meets man, with a suspicious mind, 
with caution and a never sleeping vigilance. And yat 
born as I was, in an agricultural district ; educated 
amongst farmers ; associating with them and their fami- 
lies during a quarter of a century, I confess that my 
heart has always been true to its first impressions, and has 
never failed to lean strongly and warmly towards those, 
who are engaged in the pure and peaceful occupations of 
a rural life. 

The great orator of New England ; the Fanner of 
Marshfield and of Franklin, once told me that he esteemed 
it as a part of the good fortune of his career, that he was 
reared amongst the hills of New Hampshire, spending there 
his youth and early manhood, in association with farmers, 
and the sons of farmers, for more than thirty years. 

He considered them as a race of thinking men, who 
could follow their occupations by the use of physical pow- 



14 

'ers ; while the mlntl 'W'as left free for reflection, undis- 
turbed by fierce pursuits, or exciting passions. He said) 
^' you and 1, sir, have learned much from this class of so* 
ciety ; we have learned to place more value upon solid 
merit and less upon show and words. We have learned 
to address jurors as our peera, because those we associated 
with in our early time were our equals In all respects, 
and never descended below the level upon which they 
originally stood." I admitted then, and I admit now, 
here and everywhere, the respect I feel for the compan- 
ions of my youth, and thank God that I Was bora under 
the free canopy, the pure skies, and amid the lovely scenes 
of an open country, in a rural home. There to my fancy 
the sun shines ever brightly, the fields are always green, 
the brooks murmur down their slopes, discoursing sweet 
music to soothed and listening ears, while nature presents 
herself forever in tranquil and graceful repose. 

But although my manner of life from the starting point 
of an active and laborious pursuit, has been such as to 
call me away from scenes like these, yet I never have 
ceased to observe the progress of Agriculture, nor suilered 
myself to unlearn that which I acquired at an early period. 
I was made acquainted in my youth, with trees, with 
plants and with animated nature. 

The forms and habits of birds, of sheep, of cattle and 
of horses, I have studied Avith attention ; and of them, I 
think I have some little knowledge. But so distrustful 
have I been as to my own fitness to discuss from knowl- 
edge or experience, any topic proper for this occasion, or 
this assembly, that I requested one of my neighboi-s, who 
is himself " every inch" a former, to give me some hints 
for a practical discourse. 



15 

This he very kindly did, in the form of a note which I 
intend to introduce here in this place, paragraph by para- 
graph, just as it was written, that I may thereby express 
my obligation to him, who has done as much to lay the 
foundation of this society as any man living ; and I need 
not add the name of David Buffam to indicate the gen- 
tleman to whom I refer. 

He Writes me thus — " Some farmers have a great aver* 
' ' sion to book-farming. It would, however, be well for all 
"farmers, to be well educated and fond of reading, and 
" compare the experiments of others with their own ex- 
' ' perience and to holdfast whatever would prove bene- 
"ficial." 

This first sentence of my neighbor's letter, led me to 
look back upon by-gone practices, to see how much of 
progress men have made during the last 3000 years in the 
practical business of agriculture ; and a few of the re- 
sults have already been stated. 

He then proceeds in the following manner — "Deep 
* ' ploughing to be encouraged as promoting ease in tilling 
" and increase of crops." 

In this opinion, you will perceive he agress with all the 
early writers ; and hence I have devoted some space to 
shew what the ancient practice was in this regard. Nay 
further ; I have endeavored to miake this maxim useful 
to myself ; and I hope also" to those who are to come af- 
ter me ; by carrying it i nto effect on that part of my farm 
well known to Mr. B uffam, which has been called ' ' Dyer's 
Swamp." Of this piece of land. Professor Jackson in 
his Geological Survey of the State speaks thus: "A 
shallow but very extensive deposit of swamp-muck occurs 
in Dyer's Swamp-^— near the base of Miantonomy Hill, 



16 

situate J north of Newport. It now lies wholly barren, 
or is only covered with bushes, and rank aquatic rushe, 
and grasses. By di'ainage, effected by border ditches, 
draining to the North, this tract of land may be easily re- 
claimed and converted into a very rich meadow." 

This description is perfectly accurate ; and when I took 
personal possession of the Malbone Place in the year 18-49, 
I thought I would endeavor to remove in some degree, 
the very proper and just reproach thus cast upon it by Pro- 
fessor Jackson. For this purpose I carefully examined its 
surface, and found that the water with which the swamp 
was filled, proceeded for the most part from copious 
and never failing springs which gush up under the willow 
trees near the road at the base of the hill. I found also 
that there was no outlet for this flow, and that when the 
rains which pour down the slopes and ravines surround- 
ing the swamp, should evaporate in the sun, as they 
always do in summer, the ground must still be sat- 
urated by the water from the willow springs. 

Satisfied, however, of the justness of Professor Jack- 
son's conclusions, I resolved to follow his advice. I be- 
gan, therefore, by drawing lines of ditches all around the 
four sides of this almost level plain so as to cut off the 
deluge from the hills ; and I cross-ditched also, from 
North to South in three other places, so that there are five 
considerable arteries, through which the w^aters may flow. 
Many cuts were then made from East to West, as veins 
connected with the arteries ; and these cuts absorbed so 
much of the supply furnished by the springs that the sur- 
face of the swamp l^ecame measurably dry. The next 
thing was to find an outlet to the sea ; and the eye alone, 
unaided by instruments easily told us, that if a line wei'e 



^rawn throiigli the North East corner of ^Ir. Hunter's 
farm, that the waters from the springs would rush into the 
sea at the cove ; and thus, not only would my land be 
drained, but Mr. Hunter's supplied in all time to come 
from fountains which never fail. 

Permissioii for the experiment having been obtained, I 
connected the northwest corner of the swamp, at the point 
indicated by Professor Jackson, with the sea, by a ditch ; 
and to my complete satisfaction, all the waters of the 
brook, which had been backed upon the land and held 
there, flowed oif, with a steady and rapid motion ; the 
descent being greater than that which I had supposed. 

Drainage having been effected, the next step was to 
rid the land of its bushes, rushes and the rank aquatic 
.grasses described by the Professor ; and this was done by 
means of stout hoes, specially constructed by the black- 
smith for that purpose, by bill hooks and scythes. 

The worthless alders and wild-rose bushes being torn 
up ; the roots were consumed by fire, and their ashes, 
after the Roman fashion, strewed upon the upland. 

The second year the surface was covered with a crop of 
wild grass ; and this was mowed, making tolerable fodder 
But still something was wanting, and by a hint from my 
friend General George Cadwallader, himself an experience- 
ed farmer as well as gallant soldier, crowned with well 
earned laurels, I soon discovered what that something 
was ; it was a cast iron plough with the deep furrows 
of my neighbor Buffum. This was applied, and cuts dif- 
fering in depth from eight inches to twelve and backing 
upon each other, were made by this noble instrument 
•over about tliirty acres. 



18 

The eifect was not only to drain the land, but to furnish 
us with crops of timothy and red-top, reaching as high 
on some parts as three tons to the acre, and no where did 
they descend below two. Within the last four weeks, tak- 
ing advantage of the drought, I followed the advice of 
the intelligent editor and practical farmer, who conducts 
the Massachusetts Ploughman ; and instead of spending 
time in lamenting the conjunction of Siiius with the sun 
to bum up our fields, we allowed the Dog- Star to rage, 
and began to clear our ditches and to plough our swamp 
— now become meadow as Professor Jackson predicted. 

My farmer, Mr. Josiah Albro, a man of sense and judg- 
ment, followed this purpose with all energy, and in a few 
days fifteen acres more were lying in furrow and will soon 
be ready to take the seed. In this manner we have 
reclaimed near fifty acres ; the expense of the procedure 
not being one fifth the value of the land in its present 
state ; and Professor Jackson has told you how worthless 
it Avas at the time of liis survey. Are there not other 
swamps on this Island besides Dyer's, to be treated in the 
same way ; and may we not increase the quantity of our 
meadows by these means, and thus add acres to our pas- 
tures 1 

The land referred to, will now produce good crops of 
hay without manure ; but from an experiment made last 
spring upon six acres, we find, that a top dressing from 
the stable and barn not only improves the quality of the 
hay, but increases the yield most decidedly. It is our pur- 
ose, therefore, during the ensuing Winter, to cart largely 
from our bam cellar upon this reclaimed swamp ; for you 
must know that all the proceeds of our stables, our shcep- 
.s^.? ''- mid pig-pens arc kept from the rain, the wind and the 



19 

Sitii, between substantial stone walls, under cover of the 
same roof, wliicb protects our cattle and our hay. We have 
contrived this building w'ith three entrances, and exits, 
one above another, by selecting the spur of a hill's side, 
where three levels are obtained ; by which means our barn, 
one hundred feet long by forty-four feet wide, is three 
stories in height. The upper story, which is approached 
from the east, and entirely above the earth, contains the 
hay, in quantity this year, at least one hundred and sixty 
tons, being nearly four- fold the amount produced by the 
same farm when it was in the hands of my tenant ; 
and this hay instead of being pitched up upon lofty 
mows, by the aid of three, four or five men, as the case 
may be, is all thrown below the level of the load, or hor- 
izontally from the cart, by the man who wields the pitch- 
fork. The next story beneath, the east side of which is 
below the earth's surfacce, is approached from the South 
and the cattle are tied up on floors which extend the 
whole length of the barn, receiving their fodder from above,, 
which is of course all thrown down through a scuttle or 
hatchway, the approach to the hay loft being at a right- 
angle to that which leads to the cow-stable. The first,, 
or lowest story, which entered from the West, has its east 
side also below the level of the earth, and the whole of 
the first story and the east side of the second are made 
of solid stones, laid in mortar ; and tliis first story, re- 
ceives all the produce of the stables above,- through trap- 
doors, which open upwards therein, and at the same time 
it gives shelter to the swine. 

Thus it will be perceived that we have at once secur- 
ed ease of approach for our hay ; convenience in the 
feeding and care of our cattle, and a free departure with 



20 

our loads of manure, clown the slope wliicli leads to Dyer's 
Meadow wliore we intend to deposit it. 

This plain, very obviously, and at no distant period, 
■\vas a bed of the sea which invaded it through the cove, 
opposite the northern part of Coaster's Island, for at the 
depth of between two and three feet, we have penetrated 
through the superincumbent earthy fonned by the decay 
of vegetable matter and the washings from the eastern 
hills, and struck the hard compact flat sand, (as it is 
called,) in all respects like that which forms the bottom 
of our harbor ; and hence the foundations of our main 
ditches are in fact, firm roads. 

And while I am upon this topic, not of personal inter- 
est only, but of general concern, I trust, to all those who 
have learns to make, or swamps to reclaim,— let me re- 
peat a remark lately made to me by the well educated, 
intelligent^ and sagacious farmer of Vaucluse Avhich will 
long have a sticking place in my memory. " I once 
thought," said he, *' that all fertiUzers should be placed 
below the surf^xce of the earth by the plough ; but I be- 
gin to believe that their true application is upon it ; in 
other words, I begin to think that top-dressing, after all, 
is the best." In this opinion I should concur were my 
experience such as to justify me in giving it an expression. 
The Romans thought highly of water as a fertilizer, and 
meadows were their admiration, because always ready to 
produce Avithout culture ; and they recommend the mak- 
ing of meadows at all events, if you have water, and if 
not, then to form them dry. 

They {idmit that the grass of uplands will make finer' 

hay than that of the lowlands ; but insist that large cro|)S' 

. are to be expected only from the latter ; and they give 



21 

'directions for passing the water slowly and evenly over 
the fields without stagnation. Water when allowed to 
stand upon meadows reduces the temperature of the 
ground too much at the roots of the plants, and for this 
reason it should be drawn off. And upon the authority 
of recent investigation we may now affirm, that the prac- 
tice of tubular underground draining through porous pipes, 
is as old as the days of Ninevah and Babylon. On the 
hill sides, near the sources of the Danube in South Ger- 
many, where all the ground is full of springs, I observed 
lines of ditches, one above another, conducting the super- 
abundant fluid gently over the grass, whereby, and by 
this means alone, three crops in a season are obtained. 

The third sentence in Mr. Buffum's letter is as follows : 
*' Keep the best domestic animals, as in general much 
" more profitable ; and be sure to keep all kinds of stock 
*' ivcU^ and then they are always in a saleable condition." 

These sentences may, in my opinion, be treated as axi- 
oms by farmers and herdsmen, to be acted upon, not only 
as the results of experience, but as agricultural wisdom 
itself. "Keep the best domestic animals" says Mr. 
BufFum. Ah ! we will do so : but which are the best ? 
and here come in all the jarring opinions as to long-horns 
and short-horns ; AldernJes and Ayreshires ; the Here- 
fords and D evens amongst cattle ; — Suffolks, Berkshires and 
the Essex pigs of Lord Western come next ; — while the 
Merinos of Spain and France, the flocks of Saxony, and 
the Cotswolds, the Leicesters and South Downs of Old 
England all follow in order. Nor will it do in these days- 
of Shanghaes, Chittagongs, JMalays, Game Cocks^ and 
Bantams, entirely to forget the featliered race, lest we be 



99 

crowed over by all the exhibitors last winter at Barniim's 
Museum. 

I shall not enter into an argument as to the merits of 
these various classes, but refer you at once to those au- 
thors who have carried on the dispute so vigorously ; and 
especially to the agricultural reports of Massachusetts, 
where the war wages hottest and the toughest stories are 
told. I have various works upon animals, all of which I 
read with pleasure, and I hope not without some instruc- 
tion. 

This is an important topic for the Fanners of Rhode 
Island. The animals employed here are not for the most 
part of our own breeding, although we have every facil- 
ty and temptation for raising all the useful kinds. 

AVe have grass and water in abuadance ; — our climate 
is good, our fields generally well fenced, and if any coun- 
ty in New England can breed horses, cattle and sheep to 
advantage, this county can. As for hay there is no end 
to it, and w^e need therefore 

" Fear no more the heat o' the sun, 
Nor the furious winter's rages," 

but rest secure in the possession of these provisions for 
the animal creation. I was much stmck by a remark 
made by the distinguished gentleman who addressed you 
last year, and to whom I have akeady referred. He says 
in his discourse, (I quote from memory, ) that we, on this 
Island, cut too much hay in proportion to our acres, and 
do not pasture enough. As I was shaping my farm, al- 
most exclusively for hay, I was at first disposed to ques- 
tion tliis proposition ; — but when I came to consider the 
economy of pasturage, in comparison with the crop cured 
and preserved for winter's use, in an expensive barn, I was 



23 

forced to believe Mr. Hazard to be right ; and, according- 
ly, I am now preparing portions of my meadow land for 
pasturage. 

Indeed tliis use of the soil was in high estimation in 
ancient times ; for we are told by Cicero, that when Cato 
the Censor was asked, what the best policy in the manage- 
ment of landed property was, he answered — " good graz- 
ing. ' ' What next ? — " tolerable grazing. ' ' ! What third ? 
''poor grazing " said he. What fourth? "tilling," was 
the reply. This is the same Censor, who, when inter- 
rogated by the same interlocutor, as to his opinion of lend- 
ing money upon interest, answered the question by asking 
another — "And what, said Cato do you think of killing 
a man" ? 

K then we have the capacity for the breeding and rais- 
ing of cattle, of sheep and horses, why do w^e neglect it, 
if profitable ? Is it advantagious. Farmers of Rhode 
Island, to carry your money to Maine, to New Hampshire 
and Vermont, to purchase there, the very animals that 
feed upon your pastures and consume the stores laid up 
for winter 1 

Kwe raise what we now purchase, — and I think we can 
do so without diminishing materially those products of our 
farms which you are in the habit of seUing ; — do we not 
thereby add something to the general property of the com- 
monwealth, and so to its prosperity ? Think of this gen- 
tlemen, and if you will commence a more extensive sys- 
tem of breeding than that hitherto adopted, let me come 
to results at once, and recommend you to plunge into Mr. 
Youatt's book, at page 226, and take the " Short-Horns" 
to begin with. 

I know that some fanciful gentlemen near Boston are 



24 

almost crazy about the Aldernies ; but this breed, al- 
though tolerably handsome and good milkers, have no 
size. They are wortliless for the shambles, the cart and 
the plough, and all these things you are to consider when 
you breed for profit. 

The number of cattle slaughtered annually in England 
near 20 years ago when the population was much below 
its present standard, is estimated by ]\Ir. Youatt at six- 
teen hundred thousand, — and now if this reckoning bo 
right it cannot fall short of two millions. 

Suppose the animals to be thus slaughtered were Alder- 
nies all, and nothing but Aldernies ! what a lowing would 
there not be in Smithfield, and what massacres of the In- 
nocents by millions would follow to supply the great de- 
mand ! 

Our cattle are destined for an inevitable end, and by 
one mode ; an end to which all animated nature must 
come in the manner designed by the Creator. 

Our bulls, our cows and our oxen — after their appro- 
priate uses have terminated, are all to be delivered over to 
the butcher, and we should have an eye to tliis final result, 
when we select our stock. 

I have looked at the different classes of animals. I 
have personally examined various breeds in England, in 
Belgium, in France, in Germany, and in the United 
States ; and out of them all, give me the Short Horns. 

They are good milkers, good workers, good but not ex- 
travagant feeders, and they have that which my eye must 
always seek — they have size and beauty. 

They arc not only symetrical in form, but beautiful in 
color, the prevailing tints being red and white intermixed 
in every curious and changeful variety. 



25 

When that fearless Patriot and excellent Farmer, Hen- 
ry Clay, was last in Newport, I accompanied him to the 
top of Tonomy Hill, that he might get, as he said, " the 
lay of the land." While we were casting our eyes over 
the superb landscape and water-view presented from that 
eminence, some cows presented themselves witliin a few 
yards of the position he occupied, and this circumstance 
led to a conversation concerning cattle. I asked Mr. Clay 
which breed he preferred from his own observation and 
experience. " Why upon the whole sir," he replied, " I 
*' like the Short Horns best. They have most of the good 
*' properties belonging to other classes, and then I admire 
" their color — I like the red and white ;" and in these 
particulars, my taste, I admit, corresponds exactly with 
that of the " Great Statesman of the West." 

But although the red and white are the most usual 
tints, yet I have seen Short Horns of other colors wdiich 
had every perfection to gratify the eye. I have seen them 
pure white, pure red and of a red roan, and tliis last 
is now becoming most fashionable. 

In Belgium, and not far from the Field of Waterloo, I 
saw a herd of cows in a pasture near the road that attracted 
my attention instantly. Descending from the carriage, I 
examined them with care for a considerable time. They 
were as perfect specimens of Short Horns as I ever saw in 
England, and yet, they had all been purchased in Hol- 
land and brought to Brussels, at the expense of a society, 
formed there to improve the breed of cattle. In color 
they were black and white ; but these were laid on in 
separate masses, like the spots of the leopard ; much in- 
deed in the same form, that you observe them, in the red 
and wliite variety of Durhams. 



26 

Barring the difference in color tliey could not have been 
discriminated from English cows, — their general size, — 
symetry, horns and form, being exactly the same. But 
their peculiar hues were made more beautiful by the lus- 
tre of the hair, which shone and sparkled like the coat of 
a race-horse ; and if I had money enough to gratify all 
my tastes, I certainly would make an excursion into IIol- 
land, to see what might be found there. 

The English have absolutely made their breeds by ju- 
dicious crossings and great care in selections. We have 
now the means of doing the same thing, for the enter- 
prise and liberality of Americans have caused the import- 
ation of some of the most valuable animals which the 
United Kingdom ever possessed ; and it is supposed by 
persons competent to judge, that we have more and better 
Short Horns in the United States, than are left in the 
British Isles. 

Many Farmers believe, because the Short Horns are 
large, that they are therefore voracious, and require rich 
meadows and pastures for their support. This I conceive 
to be an entire mistake, and my opinion is founded upon 
some observasion, as well as enquiry. There are two 
farmers in a neighboring county, whose lands are conti- 
guous, — exactly of the same kind ; one large farm in- 
deed, divided by a stone-wall to mark the respective pos- 
sessions. 

Upon the north portion of tliis division, Short Honis 
are reared ; upon the south, cattle of what is called our 
* ' native breed' ' — although it woiUd puzzle tlieir posses- 
sors to point out that spot in America where cows were 
found, when John Smith and Sebastian Cabot sailed 
along the coast of New England. Well, amongst the 



2r 

Short Horns north of the boundary referred to, I can 
point out the finest Steer in Rhode Island, weighing at 
least 2000 pounds ; while south of it, there is scarce an 
animal raised on the adjoining fields that will exceed GOO ; 
most of them indeed falling far below that standard ; and 
all these animals north and South of the wall, have fared 
exactly alike. 

The largest, strongest and best oxen ever raised in 
Rhode Island have been Short Horns ; one pair of which 
I purchased in Bristol, and worked on my own farm ; and 
Mr. Albro wiU tell you that they were the most powerful 
animals he ever drove. 

I am aware of the excellence of the Ayreshires, the 
Herefords, the Devons and the Aldernies ; the latter pro- 
ducing milk, rich and thick — not butter ready made, as 
the Bostonians would have us believe ; but milk of the 
very richest kind. 

Nevertheless it is always most convenient for each Farm- 
er, to keep but one class of cattle, unless he would allow 
his breed to become degenerate by careless crossing. — 
One cross may answer very well, but to preserve your 
strain of blood pure, you must go back continually to the 
original fountain. Like produces like in the animal cre- 
ation, whilst Hybrids, (a proper name for them) even of 
the same genus, continually descend in the scale of de- 
generation. I therefore stick to the Short Horns, and 
hope to be able, hereafter, to exhibit specimens wliich 
may improve our stock. 

It has been greatly benefitted already, by those spirit- 
ed individuals of Newport, who have imported the breed 
I prefer ; and we are much indebted to Governor Gibbs 



28 

and another excellent person of liis family, for theii- exer- 
tions in the improvement of our cattle. 

Marks of the Short-Horned blood may be traced in 
many farm yards, and I have purchased some on this Is- 
land, reared here, which I am not ashamed to exliibit in 
any part of the country. 

If you raise cows, raise the best and keep them well. 
The expense of keeping a cow which produces twenty 
quarts of milk a day, is not greater than that of one 
which gives but ten quarts. I have examples of both. 
I have two cows which cost me $45 each, and I purchas- 
ed a Short Horn of Mr. Bailey for which I paid him $80. 
Rose and Ella together give me but ten or twelve quarts 
at a milking, and have two mouths to be filled ; while 
Juno furnishes the same quantity at a meal, and I fiU but 
one mouth in her case. 

I use the good, farmer-like word meal, as it is now 
used in the north of Old England, and as it has always 
been used in New, to signify the milk of a cow produced 
at one milking ; and although it is eschewed by all our 
Dictionaries, as a Yankeeism, — manufactured here, — 
yet if you will turn to the pages of Mr. Halliwell you 
will find that our ancestors used this word, as they did all 
others, Avith strict regard to propriety, both in meaning 
and idiom. 

In relation to Sheep, we have not time to say much ; 
and to say much, upon tliis topic, before such an assem- 
blage as I see before and around me, would be superfluous 
and out of place. 

But I have a strong impression as to the kind which 
suits our Island best ; and I pronounce without hesitation 
in favor of the South Downs. 



29 

The Bakewells, the !^ew Leicesters and Cotswolds lifivd 
all great size and long wool. The Merinos of France 
have also great size, but short wool and fine. A Leicester 
sheep has been known to weigh as much as 368 lbs; 
and there are Merinos upon this Island, approaching to 
the same enormous size. But I incline to think that the 
gentlemen who have, with so much spirit and liberality, 
brought these monsters among us, are not altogether satis- 
fied with their experiments, for I found one of them in my 
pasture, the past summer, culling out some South Down 
male lambs from my little flock, without much remark 
about the cause of this selection. South Downs can be 
exhibited in this country and in England which will 
weigh between one hundred and sixty and one hundred 
and seveilty pounds ; and this volume is quite sufQcient 
to answer all reasonable requirements. 

The wool of the South Down, although not so fine as 
that of the Merino, is, nevertheless, of excellent quality. 
In quantity it corresponds with the relative sizes of the 
animals ; wdiile the mutton of tliis breed is exactly what 
an epicure desires ; moderation in size, but juicy, — the flit 
well laid in, and of excellent flavor. The flesh of the South 
Down is quite as good as that of the Welsh sheep, of 
which the English boast so much. 

I have seen these animals, in large flocks upon their na- 
tive Downs and Wolds ; and I am quite sure from my 
own observation, that they keep themselves in better con- 
dition, with the same food than any other breed. 

This climate and our hill sides are entirely congenial to 
their constitution and habits ; and observe it as you may, 
the mutton of sheep fed upon Rhode Island, will be found 



30 

always good, and in my judgement quite equal to any m 
tlie world. 

I have had many opportunities of comparing American 
mutton ) side by side, on the same table, with that brought 
from England, and although the latter is as good as can 
be desired, it is in no respect superior to our own ; wliile 
our beef is decidedly better, more juicy and rich. 

A butcher in New Yorkj with whom I have often dealt, 
a man of sense and observation, is in the habit of ex- 
changing, every year, by means of steam vessels, the pro- 
ducts of his own market with those of Liverpool. In his 
stalls you may see, throughout the winter season, pheas- 
ants, black grouse and red, quails, [partridges, beef and 
mutton, brought from England, and thus compare, as 
many times I have done, our own, With the products of 
the British Isles. 

In exchange for these, Mr. Broadway (for that is his 
name) sends out American oysters, American deer and 
American Grouse ; and last, but not least, — believe me 
if you can, — 'American Beef also ; and lam told by him, 
that of all his exportations, the American Beef is in most 
demand at Liverpool. Ilis correspondents inform him 
that their customers at home, consider it quite superior in 
flavor to their ovm ; and hence have learned that the 
boast of Old England can be equalled in regions far be- 
yond the Atlantic. 

But, *' revenons a nos moutons." Let us return to our 
Sheep. I shall certtiinly commend to your attention, and 
cultivation, the South Downs of Sussex, the very jjcst of 
which will be found upon the farms cultivated, as well as 
owned by His Grace the Duke of Richmond ; himself a 
pattern for farmers as well as noblemen, for his intelU- 



SI 

gelice, Ills unasJsuming manners and graceful hospitality. 

If you would have swine of the best form, you muSft 
go, I think, to the Essex breed of Lord Western ; or to a 
cross of that kind with the swine of Sussex. 

The hairless SufTolks, with their sides ahnost reeking 
with grease, rather than good honest fat , as 1 observed 
them abroad, are no favorites of mine, although they may 
be used perhaps, for crossing, with profit and success. 

But you can make a breed of your own, by attention 
and care, equal to the best in England, formed in the same 
way ; and in truth it is already done. 1 found on this 
Island, when I came to my farm in 184D, swine very 
nearly right in all desirable particulars and which I then 
purchased. With these materials in hand, we have en- 
deavored to " train on," and now with a male from New 
York, of tlie New Essex and Sitssex breed -^presented to 
me by my friend JMr. Slate, liimself a rival for Lord West- 
ern, I wiU show a sow tliis day, with twelve pigs by her 
side, against any which can be produced from Soffolk or 
Berkshire. Attend carefully to tile crossing : give the 
animals length, with a middle-piece for the pork-barrel, 
while the hams, shoulders, and jowLs are of mc^derate size, 
and you have all tliat can be expected or desired, in the 
shape of swine ; and the breed preferred by me will 
give all these at moderate expense, as they keep in 
good condition with comparatively little food. 

The Chittagongs, Singapores, Bramah Pootras, and all 
the other "big things," come, most probably,- from one 
and the same place, and that is Slianghae. 

In my opinion they are all varieties of one breed, made 
different in their color and the clothing upon their legs by 
the fancy breeding of the Chinese. They were unknown 



in Canton twenty years ago and have been ])roiiglit to that 
jDlace roccntly from the northern parts of the Empire. 

Come from where they may, they furnish the elements 
for excellent crossing with smaller and more compact 
fowls ; and upon trial, you will, I think, prefer the Black 
lavas, or Black Shanghaes rather, to all others. These 
last we have found hardy, good layers, and good moth- 
ers ; while under black feathers, you will find flesh, juicy 
and good, covered by a clear aiid yellow skin. 

The pride of your barn-yards, however, is the Game 
Cock. Observe him with plumage of every color glisten- 
ing in the sun and rivaling the Asiatic Pheasant in beau- 
ty. See his fierce eye, his quick atliletic step, proudly 
deporting himself amid his harem. Hear his "shrill 
clarion" challenging like a Knight of old, all comers to 
meet liim in the lists ; consider his indomitable courage^ 
sometimes defying the bird of Jove himself ; and tell me 
whether the Game Cock is not the prince of all fowls ? 

Cross him then with the neble breeds of China, and 
you will have just what you want for the Idtchen and the 
tal!»le. 

And now Gentlemen—^** paulo majora canamus ;" let us 
take a loftier theme, from the animal creation and say 
something of the Horse, — the most beautiful, the most 
spirited, the most soul stirring and perhaps the most use- 
ful of all the tri])es that came out of the ark. 

Observe him trained for the race, exercising for war, 
or harnessed to the chariot ; his eye on fire, his nostrils 
expanded, his coat glistening like burnished gold, and tell 
me if he is not a subject for the painter and a model for 
tlie statuary ? 

The Arabs write, — " true riches are a noble and fierce 



'**\)teecl of horses, and of wliich God said, tKe war horses ", 
*' those which rush on the enemy with full-blowing nos- 
*' trils ; those which plunge into the battle early in the 
*' morning." 

We had in New York, some years ago, a most estima- 
ble gentleman, who rose from humble circumstances in 
mechanic life^ to fortune and to honor ; -—being succes- 
?sively Mayor of the City and one of its representatives 
in Congress. In this latter place he became very fond of 
investigations into taxation, importation, exportation and 
*ill the sources of national prosperity and wealth. These 
?5ubjects he Would argue anywhere ; in doors and out of 
doors ; in sunshine or in rain ; and if he caught a wil* 
ling ear he would exclaim in exultation^ -—" if there is 
•anything in the world 1 io understand, it is tanning and 
political economy !" 

My own conceit, as to my own acquirements, leads me 
in the same direction with my former friend ; and I too, 
•can exclaim, if there are any things in the world I do un* 
derstand, they are— horseflesh and the law ! 

If I do not understand something of this subject my 
opportunities have been thrown away ; and all in vain, 
have I been President of a J'ockey Club. 

In ro.y earliest days 1 Was introduced to the horse in 
his noblest forms ; for the Arab fondness which my father 
"cherished for Thoroughbreds, he imparted to his son, who 
has retained that attachment all his days. He had at one 
time when 1 Was yet a boy, five excellent and beautiful 
specimens of the Race Horse, the Cleveland Bay, and the 
animal of all work, noAV known as the Morgan ; all ©f 
'which w€re kept for the improvement of their respective 



u 

classes ; and the names of Escape^ Pacolot, King "^ViUuiffi 
and Kocklani, arc familiar sounds in my ears. 

It was my father who first told me the story of Lind-' 
sey's Arabian, a horse well known to him, anil in my na- 
tive county by the name of Ranger ; and I have galloped 
a grand daughter of this ^eedmany a mile, w^eary enough 
for her, but cheering and pleasant to me. 

Tliis beautiful Barb was presented by the Emperor of 
Morocco to the Captain of an Unglish frigate, who landed 
him on one of the West India Islands, for exorcise and 
fefroshmc]\t. 

Being playful as a kitten he was turned loose into a 
lumber yard, and taking it into his head to ascewl a piW 
of timber he fell and broke thriee of his legs. 

Tlie master of a vessel out of New London^ well knowit 
to the Captain of the man-of-war, upon solicitation, re- 
ceived the horse as a present in his crippled and hopeless 
condition. With much skill and putience the master of 
the '* Horse Jockey" caused the fractured Hmh to be sety 
and succeeded at last m bringing the animal Iwme to Con-' 
necticut, where he became the ancestor of many brave 
sons and beautiful daughters. 

Some of these being employed dm-ing the Revolutionary 
War in the South as cavalry horses, «'\ttracted so much at-* 
tention that tlieir history a.nd pedigi-ee were iiKiuired into 
with care ; and the result was that General Washington 
sent Captain Lindsey of the army, to Hampton in Con* 
necticut to purchase the foreigner ; and thus it was that 
the Old Ranger, — beautiful as Apollo, white and shining 
as silver, went down to Virginia to lay his- mended bones 
there. But before descending to the grave he left speci- 
mens of his blood in the form of Tulip ami other capital 



35 

racers ; and now it flows to this day in the veins of many 
a high mettled steed, in that ancient and renowned do- 
minion. 

The horse has been the animal most interesting to man 
from our earliest liistory ; and the country of his fame, 
for speed, courage, stoutness and endurance, has changed 
from time te time as men have sought liim out and cultiva- 
ted his good qualities. 

The East was the first region which possessed a breed 
fit for the purposes of battle ; and we read that the wise 
King of Israel introduced chargers from Egypt into his 
forty thousand stalls of Syria, a thousand years before the 
Christian Era. 

But this war-like animal was known long before this 
period, for it is Job, (and he lived at a time so remote 
that we have no correct notion of its date) who describes 
the war-horse " with his neck clothed with thunder, paw- 
" ing the valley and rejoicing in his strength. He mock- 
*' eth at fear and is not affrighted ; neither turneth he back 
'' from the sword ; the quiver rattleth against him, the 
*' glittering spear and shield. He saith among the trump- 
" ets ha ! ha! and he snuffeth the battle af\ir off; the 
" thunder of the captains and the shoutings." 

Homer describes the steeds of^neas as of celestial 
origin, for he says they were given by Jove the Thunder- 
er, to Tros as the price of his son Ganymede taken up to 
Heaven for his beauty, to be the cup-bearer of the Gods. 

Vergil speaks of a breed that had the east wind for an 
ancestor, so swift wore they and so light of foot. 

Ore omnes versoe in Zephyrum, stant rnpibus altis illae 
Expectant leves auras ; et saepe sine ullis 
Conjiigiis vento gravidaj. 



36 

lie describes the animal most in esteem in his time and 
says — 

" Lofty his neck, his head small and slender ; short in 
" the loin with a chest swelling in brawny muscles. Ilis 
' ' color, bay or blueish gray ; his mane thick and waving 
" upon his right shoulder, his back seems braced with a 
" double spine and his solid hoof resounds upon the plain ; 
' ' such was the brace of Mars and such the chariot-horses 
"of great Achilles." 

This last Hero, declared at the Games in honor of Pa- 
troclus, dead, that if he were permitted to contend in the 
chariot-race he could win ; " for my steeds, said he, sur- 
pass all others, because they are immortal ; and Neptune 
gave them to my father and I inherited them from him." 
Tlie Greeks, however, were not fastidious as to color, and 
a chestnut horse with a white circular spot like the moon 
upon his forehead, meets the approl)ation of Homer. 

But without stopping to encpiire whether the poetic 
coursers of Homer and Vergil were entitled to the high 
(commendation bestowed upon them by those authors, one 
thing is certain, that the best horses now to be found in 
Europe and the United States have had their origin in the 
East and most probably in Mesopotamia. 

They were first brought to the notice of English Kings 
in the time of the crusades, and the charger described by 
Sir Walter Scott as being furnished by the Jew for his 
hero of Ivanhoe, and ridden l3y him at the tournament of 
" Ashl)y de la Zouch" in the presence of King John, the 
brother of Richard the first, must have been a true Arab, 
faultless in form and of courage invincible. 

When the Crusaders went to the Holy Wars, they took 
with tliem the powerful, but heavy horses of Nonnandy, 



37 

Flanders and Hungary ; and although these animals, with 
Knights upon their backs, full armed, were like " Ele- 
phants endorsed with towers of Archers" yet they melted 
away like dew before the heat of Asiatic sands and the 
thorough bred cavalry of Saladin. 

"In mail their horses clad, yet fleet and strong, 

" Prancing — their riders bore. 

"See them in their forms of battle ranged, 

" How quick they wheel and flying, behind them shoot 

" Sharp sleet of arrowy showers, against the face 

" Of their pursuers ; and overcome by flight." 

This is a very exact description, drawn by him who 
equaled "blind Thamyris and blind Maeonides" not on- 
ly in fite, but in the power and sweetness of his song ; 
and hence King John, when he succeeded to the throne 
of Richard, the Crusader, introduced some of this blood 
into England, and encouraged its cultivation by establish- 
ing race-courses, and offering prizes to be run for, by the 
Arab, the Barb and their descendants. 

By these and the like means, from generation to gen- 
eration, by the aid of the government, by private enter- 
prise and emulous rivalry, — the English had infused so 
much of the eastern blood into their horses that in the 
time of the American Revolution and from those days 
down to our own, they had the best breed in the world. 

They improved upon the Arab by giving him size, pre- 
serving at the same time all his admirable qualities of 
speed, stoutness and endurance ; for it is a maxim upon 
the turf — " that a good big one always beats a good little 
one." 

John Blunt, an Arab in every particular, and as good 
a racer of his size, as the world ever saw, not fifteeni 
hands high, could not contend successfully with Fashion,. 



38 

because her superior height and length gave her a stride 
which so told upon the little horse, in a race of four miles, 
that he was compelled to yield the palm to that renowned, 
and in my opinion, matchless and unrivalled courser. 

To come doAvn to practical results then, you may ask, 
would you have formers breed and use race-horses ? Cer- 
tainly not thoroughbreds ; by which I mean animals 
whose pedigree can bo traced directly to Arab originals ; 
but I would have them never employ any, that were not 
strongly imbued with the best properties of oriental steeds. 

The heavy horses of Europe, including those of Eng- 
land, France anl Holland, are wholly unsuited to our 
habits, and purpo .os, being slow of motion and expensive 
to keep. For farming draft, oxen must always be pre- 
ferred in New England to horses or mules, for when their 
career in the cart and plough is run, they have not lost 
any part of their value, but become food for man, as they 
were destined finally to be. 

Again, the harness of the oxen employed by us, is of 
the cheapest and most simple description ; and I defy any 
man to contrive a cooler or better mode of coupling tliis 
animal to his plough or cart, than by the common wood- 
en yoke Avhich we use and which is equally well calcula- 
ted for forward traction, or for backing the load. 

The horses which you ride and drive daily arc all of 
them, strongly imbued with the blood of the thorough- 
bred, and we rarely see in this state a single specimen of 
the heavy draft-horse of Europe. 

When ^Ir. Birkbeck, the distinguished English Farmer, 
first came to this country, more than 30 years ago, he 
wrote and published an account of what he saw ; and 
amongst other things he remarked, and with some as- 



3^ 

ionisliment that the American horses were all blood horses, 
<5r so crossed with that race as to cause its predominance 
to be seen wherever he traveled ; and he pronounced 
them superior to those of Europe. 

Even in Pennsylvania, their strong wagon horses have 
lost their heaviness ; and while they are of the largest 
size, they have also blood, compact bone and good action. 
An English cart horse carries as much hair upon his fet- 
locks as he does upon his mane ; wliile the legs of the 
Canestoga, may be found as clean as those of a Barb. 

We have bred in this country from the best originals ; 
and our trotters, including the JMorgans and Blackhawks, 
owe their speed and endurance entirely to their eastern 
blood. Old Messenger one of the best racers that Eng- 
land ever lost, was introdiiced into this country shortly af- 
ter the Revolution. He was the sire of Mambrino, a 
thoroughbred trotter, who could knock off a mile in three 
minutes in liis twenty- first year when I saw him ; and he 
transmitted his blood to the famous Lady Suffolk who 
could go the snme distance in two minutes aiid twenty- 
six seconds ! 

He and she had the hardy grey color of Old Messenger 
who gave to them the speed and endurance of the trotter ; 
%vhile the same Patriarch imparted to Eclipse his swift- 
ness as a racer. 

Trustee, who not long ago astonished all England by 
going over a course of twenty miles within the hour in 
harness, was a son of imported Trustee, — n thorough- 
^Dred race-horse, whose price at one time was three thou- 
sand guineas. 

3Ir- R of London, when in tliis eountrv had so stronj? 



40 

a desire to see the animal that performed this feat, that I 
took him to his stable in Houston street, where we saw 
him hanicsscd to the kiker's cart ^vMcb he daily drew 
thmugh the streets of New York. 

He was a cbestmtt, fifteen hands twu incli-es high, and 
exactly the kind of horse which we should breed and ndse.. 

Dmiiig- the Caitadiaa rebellion, tlie English sent over- 
to those pi*ovinces a considerable body of cavalry. jNIany 
of these liorses died on the voyage from stress of weather^ 
and they were compelled to momit their men by pi\rchas- 
esin New York, Venaortt and New Hampsliire, all along- 
tlie borders of Canada. 

These ammals I saw in; Montreal in exercise. They 
were specimens of the middling sized Morgan,, with strik- 
ing marks of blood ; and Col. Shiiiey, of the Dragoons 
informed nuo in 1842,. that thoy were the best cavalry 
horses for all work tlmt he had ever seeni ; so good lie said,, 
that they were not to ]ye sold when the regiment went 
home„ but to be takeato Englanxl for use,, as one would, 
tiike coals to Newcastle. 

Believe me,, gentlemen,, we of Rliode Islanjl should 
breed oiu* own horses^, and breed them larger and bx^tter 
than we do now. It costs no more to rear anil keep a 
good horse thiin a bad one ; while their relative capacity 
for service can scarcely be estimated. 

I saw when I was abroad,, the horses of Frauce, and 
found they had, amongst others, a middling sized race„ 
rcmiu'kable for toughness and condition,, wliich are easily 
maintained ; but to improve their breeds the government 
makes constant draughts upon the English thoroughbreds. 

Now,, we have no need to go abroad for tliis kind of stocks 



41 

As a gtsneral ruie our roadstei*s are niucli better tlian tlie 
English, and the stories about twelve miles an hour in 
post-chaises, as an ordinary pace, are not to be credited. 

I found, when in England, that the rate of speed de- 
pended upon the roads. From South Hampton to Londom 
you nmy easily go at the rate of ten or twelve miles an 
tour ; but it took four beautiful bays two full hours to 
transport myself and four others in a light caniage with- 
out luggage, from Dover to Canterbury, a distance of only 
eighteen miles; and I bribed the Post Boys " a^ ^Aa/,'^ 
holding my watch to see what English horses could do om 
a hilly road. 

Between Hastings and Brighton over the sandy Downs- 
and Wolds of Sussex, two horses in the same carriage,, 
with only three persons in it, could haixlly average five 
and a half miles- the hour ; w^hile I was once taken with 
a party, without notice to the proprietors, or preparatior^ 
on their part, in a coiumon stage coach, weighing 1800 
lbs. from Rochester to Lockport by the way of Lake On- 
tariOj a distance of 6S miles, in jiifte hours, with ease, ^i-u^^ 

I ' ' timed' ' the race-horses of England at Goodwood and 
at Newmarket ; comparing horses, weights and distances- 
with our own, and came to the conclasion that their cours- 
ers are not superior to those of America ; while in mailing 
all the world knows we can beat ther yachts and ships to- 
death. 

No ! gentlemen, you have only to look about, — use the 
elements within your grasp and the trotters and gallop- 
ers of Rhode Island may be as famous m time to come, 
as the piicers of Narragansett once were. 

There is a Jackson Morgan in Newport, that may yet 
rival the famous Old Snip, who, it is said, when pacing liis. 



42 

matclies over a ccTtain road, with a bridge twelve feet 
wide across it, was never known to touch that bridge with 
his foot ! 

lie was caught wikl, as the report goes, on the Narra- 
gansett shore, and was evidently a descendant of those 
Andahisian Barbs which the Spaniards caiTied to Cuba, 
and which our officers probably brought from that Island 
upon the return of the ill fated expedition against it in 
1741. 

And if you rear horses, farmers of Ehode Island, be 
sure that you keep them well when young. 

The stories of Arab colts, fed until their fourth year up- 
on earners milk, are a perfect delusion ; animal life can- 
not be sustained, expanded and developed except by food 
and tliat bestowed by no sparing hand- 
Mr. Burckhardt, the only man who ever traveled in. 
Syria, Mesopotamia and Arabia, with a competent knowl- 
edge of the languages there used, is the author upon 
v»diom I rely in this particular, and he says, ^'itis a gen- 
eral but erroneous opinion that Arabia is very rich in 
horses ; but the breed is limited to the extent of fertile 
pasture grounds in that coimtry, and it is in such parts 
only that horses thrive, while those Bedawins who occupy 
districts of poor soil rarely possess any horses." 

"It is found accordingly, that the tribes most rich in 
horses, are those who dwell in the comparatively fertile 
plains of Mesopotamia on the banks of the river Eupln'a- 
tes and in the Syrian plain." 

" Horses can there feed for several of the spring months 
upon the green grass and herbs produced by the rains in 
the valleys and fertile grounds, and such food seems ab- 



43 

solutely necessary for promoting the full-growth of the 
horse." 

*' The best pasturage places of Arabia not only 
produce the greatest number of horses, but likewise the 
finest and most select race." 

Certainly this must be so, and common sense teaches 
what Burckhardt expressly asserts. If you will redeem 
your former fame in this regard. Farmers of Rhode Island, 
I will for the present take leave of the Horse. 

The next sentence in Mr. BuITam's letter to which I 
will call your attention, is the following, full of good sense, 
as well as of good taste : 

' ' Some agricultural writer recommends to farmers — first 
" to make their farms as productive as they can, then as 
*' covenient as they can, then as ornamental as they can. 
" It certainly (adds Mr. Buffam) is well to make a farm 
*'home attractive, so that the sons of farmers may wil- 
" hngly continue in the business of farming, and not leave 
" it for the more shewy but less substantial occupations of 
"Hfe." 

One would think, when my neighbor wrote this para- 
graph, that he too hadbeen studying the ancients ' ' to cram' ' 
for an agricultural address, for upon the subject of a farm- 
home even Cato abandons his cautious parsimony and recom- 
mends the residence of the farmer to be made attractive 
by every means within his power, as a temptation to fix 
him permanently there. 

There was an ancient maxim derived from the Cartha- 
ginians, that the farm ought to be weaker than the farm- 
er, and it was also said, that small possessions well culti- 
vated were more productive than large ones neglected. 

Columella, a Roman authority, is very choice in the se- 



44 

lection of the spot on which to build, hoih in reference to 
health and beauty ; only he recommends that the house 
be not near the high-road, lest all the idle acquaintances 
of the proprietor should be dropping in, and so interrupt 
the occupations of the farm. In this particular my neigh- 
bor has not followed Columella's advice in all respects, for 
although his residence is upon a spot eminent for health 
and beauty, yet it is placed very near the high-road, as 
if its purpose was to cause all his acquaintances to pause 
at the door. 

" Encourage," says Mr. BufTam, " the land-owners on 
" the Island to ornament the roads by a row of trees on 
" each side as tending to health, pleasure and comfort, 
" and largely increasing the value of the land when of- 
" fered for sale. Fruit trees, particularly pear and clier- 
" ry are ornamental, and they grow well on the Island, 
" and if the land owners generally would set cherry trees 
" freely, we might have cherries in abundance as formerly." 

" Fifty years ago I suppose there was no place in the 
" United States where pears and cherries of the best kinds 
" were so plentiful as on this Island. Make the roads good 
" and ornament with trees, and then the term Garden of 
" America might truly apply " ; and with these beauti- 
ful thoughts, my neighbor closes his communication, in 
itself an excellent address for an occasion like this. 

It is quite true that this Island was formerly clothed 
wdth trees, which were at once its pride, its glory, and 
its ornament ; but the ruthless hand of war laid them all 
low, and after the departure of the British army, our Wi- 
thers had not the heart to begin replantation, while their 
children were crying for bread. 

But we are bound to restore the land to its former con- 



45 

ditlon in tlils respect ; for we are here in tlie midst oF 
smiling peace, entirely secure in the possession of our 
prosperity. 

We have merely to resolve and the thing is done. What 
Mr. BufFam proposes in theory^ he and his neighbor Mr. 
Bailey have canied out in practice, and both sides of the 
road, all along in the neighborhood of their farms are now 
bristling with trees planted by their care. 

Specimens of those choice cherries already referred to, 
now grace the highway on the north side of INIr. Buffam's 
land ; and there is no reason why noble rows of pears, of 
apples, of chestnuts and of walnuts, as Avell as of cher- 
ries, should not ornament all our thoroughfares, from the 
Court House even to the Ferry. 

When Verrazano was in Newport in April and ^lay, 
1524, he found our Islands covered with large and lofty 
trees ; with oaks, he says, with cypresses and many un- 
known in Europe. He found also apples, plums, fill3ert3 
and other fruits ; but differing from those of the eastern 
continent. 

Here also were stags, linxes, deer and other animals in 
large numbers, all of which have passed away with the 
trees of the forest. The wind no longer sighs through 
their leaves, or whistles through their branches, but rush- 
ing in its unchecked career, it strikes against our naked 
hill-sides, and pours down upon our valleys. 

Farmers of Rhode Island shall this continue to be so in 
all time to come ? Shall not some part of the nakedness 
of the land be hidden by those rows and plantations of 
trees which were once our boast, and may be again by 
your helping hands ? 



4C 

A few autumnal days given by each and all of us would 
in a short time accomplish this noble object. The weary 
traveller might then rest his exhausted steeds beneath a 
lofty elm planted for their protection. The way-farer pas- 
sing along the roadside, would find delicious fruits, of 
many kinds, presenting their jucy pulps especially for hia 
refreshment. With his healthful repast we should receive 
his blessing ; while he would cast his eyes backward in 
grateful remembrance of those thoughtful men, whose un- 
selfish kindness had looked to posterity, as well as to 
themselves. 

Thei^e is another cognate topic, touched upon by the 
gentleman who addressed you last year, and who has re- 
quested me to present it again for your consideration ; it 
is the preservation of birds, — -the beautiful songsters of 
those very groves > to be hereafter planted by your gener- 
ous care. 

The farmer of Vaucluse, is filled with all manner of 
kindly sympathies which he does not seek to repress. On 
the occasion of a visit to him, I was looking at the stores 
of corn-fodder laid up forliis cattle, and modestly suggest- 
ed the use of a cutter, as a proper instrument for the pre- 
paration of their food. It is a good machine, said he, but 
dangerous where there are children, and mine would be 
sure to cut their fingers off with it. We then passed to 
the ravine, and I casually observed that a dam across it 
would throw back a fine sheet of water, Avhich would be 
a beautiful object. That is true, he repUed, but the child- 
ren would be in danger of drowning there, and I shall 
not think of it. We then walked into the pasture where 
I found cows without horns, and I asked why the polled 



47 

k-uid Was preferred ? Why, said hev I see no me in 
horns, and they might kill my children, while those with- 
out horns are their phiymates. Why s^hould we cultivate? 
cattle with horns ? 

I could not repress a smile at all this caution ; but 1 
yespected it as the offspring of gentle thoughts .^nd a hu-- 
mane heartj and he it was, who interposed to save tliG 
warblers which his children delight to feed- 

You have laws- upon this subject v/hich all are bound td 
respect, btit which are defied and disregarded by some. 

There is an act upon your s-tatute book entitled ' ' an 
act for the presentation of useful birds/' And which are 
the birds declared useful by law 1 They are " larks, rob" 
ins, wood-ducks^ grey or black ducks, purtridges, quails, 
woodcocks, s-nipes, grouse and plover." 

The object of these laws isj to preserve those feathered 
races, during the time they are rearing their youngs which 
of course every reasonable man would do, even if he were 
cruel. But why should birds of song be ever destroyed ? 
Why should the migratory thrush, which is generally 
called the robin 5 be the object of slaughter ? He is your 
companion throughout the year, unless the Avinter be un- 
usually sovere ; the first to greet you in the spring, your 
cheerful, social, confiding friend during the summer and 
the last to desert you at the end of autumn. He builds 
his nest in your orchards and upon your fence rails. Whv 
will you permit your children to tear it down in mere 
wantonness and the love of purposeless havoc ? 

The Meadow Lark makes vocal your fields during th© 
whole of October and November, when the blasts of the 
north have sent away the warblers, the vireos, the Bob 0'- 
Lincolns, the finches, the eatbird-s and song thru,shes to 



Iho milder cruiie.^ of tho south for warmth anl protjctioA^ 
Even the rapacious birds do little or no harm with us. The 
little Sereetch-Owl amuses our autumnal evenings with 
liis mellow^, though somewKat mournfal notes. The grace* 
ful Harrier, balanced on equal ^ing-, sweeps over yout 
imeadows and swampS', seeking for rats^ for frogs, fot 
iuice, snakes and other vermin of a like loathsome char^ 
acter. Gunner ! why should yon strike down this crea^ 
lure which God has made so beautiful and brave^ for the 
mere purpose ef exhibiting your cruel skill ? In winter, 
when pressed by hunger he may take a chicken from yout 
yard, or a pigeon from your dove-cote<> but upon the 
whole he does you more good than harm. 

And so do all the worm-eating and insect-catching 
birds, including even the Woodpeckers who bore into your 
T)ld apple trees-. They are seeking for food, deadly to the 
tree, beneath the bark> and you may well allow them to 
]pursue their useful em.ployments. The black ducks^ 
the Woodcocks^ the snipes^ the Virginia rails^ and the 
meadow larks all make their nests, in each returniri,g sum* 
mer, upon my lands^, almost under my own eyes ; and shall 
1 most inhospitably refuse them admittance and give them 
i>ver to the spoiler ? Forbid it generosity ; forbid it all 
ye gentle elements of the human character. 

But, you say., the robins eat up my cherries and destroy 
my strawberries. Well-, let them, if We cannot have the 
sweet songsters upon any other terms. Let them eat up 
the cherries and strawberries and welcome^ for they pay 
us in music. AVelcome to the trees and vines which I in- 
tend to plant to inticc them to my home. Come in and 
partake with us. Don't gather all if you please, but 
take without stint, and let me see you again as I have of* 



I 



49 

ten seen you in former days, drop a ripe cherry into the 
mouths of your callow young. 

Come ye Ospreys and take your scaly prey before my 
eyes, and with your " sail-broad vans" beat up into the 
wind's eye, to carry food to your nests in the wood. You 
have as good a right as I have, to take the treasures of 
the deep for your own use, and you disturb me not in my 
possessions or enjoyment. True it is, I once saw an en- 
vious Eagle plunge down from on high and rob you of the 
fruit of your labor, while you affrighted fled to the shelter 
of a tree. But the Bird of Jove is an imperial robber 
and does not even say " by your leave," although he too 
is generally innocent of injury to man. 

Come ye Bob-o'-Lincolns and poise yourselves upon a 
single stalk of timothy, causing it to sway to and fro by 
the weight of your tiny bodies, yet giving sufficient sup- 
port, while the full-hearted song of your happiness comes 
gushing from your musical throats. 

If no one else will protect you, come to Malbone Farm 
and we will give you shelter there. Come all ye gentle 
songsters and harmless birds to us, and you shall be pro- 
tected while within the boundaries under my control. The 
law is on our side ; the right is on our side ; humanity is 
on our side, and where I have power " vainly the fowler's 
" eye shall mark thy flight to do thee wrong." 

Farmers of Rhode Island, will you join me in this pleas- 
ant employment of saving alive, instead of destroying? 
If you will not, I appeal then to your mothers, your sis- 
ters, your wives and your daughters, and to them I shall 
not appeal in vain ; and if I can but get the gentler sex 
upon my side, why the men may be defied, and I will 
proclaim to all the birds of the air that they are safe. 



And now my follow farmers, upon leave taking, lettfid- 
say a word or two as to the peculiarity of our pursuit, its 
importance, its dignity and its consolations. 

I know something of the value of your occupations, by 
their stix)ng contrast with all those of my former life. It 
is true that you are exposed, like the rest of the world to- 
the vicissitudes of fortune, for "Paul may plant and Ap- 
" polios water, but it is God alone that giveth the in- 
*' crease." You are dependent in some degree upon sun- - 
shine and upon cloud ; upon the blasts of winter, and the 
fickle summer's changes ; and yet, after all, INIazzaroth is 
always brought forth in his season by him who guideth 
Arcturus and his sons. " For he saith to the snow be 
"thou on the earth, likewise to the small rain, and the 
" great rain of his strength." " Out of the South cometh 
"the whirlwind, and cold out of the North;" but not- 
withstanding all this, the dews of heaven descend gently 
upon the waste earth and " cause the bud of the tender 
" herb to spring forth." 

You are as little subject to accident and chance as any 
persons in this life can be ; and your pursuits always the 
same, are agreeably diversified by experiment and its re- 
sults. When the labors of the day are closed, you can 
^ie down to undisturbed sleep, without those engrossing 
^^.nxieties which haunt the merchant, the physician and 
the lawyer. You have no "Ai-gosies at sea," no sick 
and wearisome patients, no clients to tax your energies 
and demand the exertion of every faculty with a cruel 
tension. You know when your work is done. The phy- 
.sician aij.d the lawyer never know that ; but the minutes 
of your slumber are the hours of their watchfulness and 
never-ep-ding care. You have time to think, to coasider, 



51 

to compai^, and your most serious labors are performed, 
thank God, under the pure canopy of Heaven, where 
your eyes may wander and take in all the beautiful works 
of his creation. The fair sun is above you m the sum- 
mer, and the harvest moon sheds its soft radiance upon 
the gathering in of your crops ; health is in the breeze, 
a fair reward in prospect, and you need not envy the oc- 
oupations of any other class of men. Your business 
draws you away from the temptations, the arts and chi- 
canery of traffic, of contract and of sordid-gain ; so great 
that Solomon exclaimed "how can there be honesty be- 
" tween buying and selling ?" 

Cicero was of opinion that if a merchant satiated, or 
rather satisfied with just profits, were to leave the sea and 
make the harbor, and from thence invest his money in 
lands, he would be deserving of commendation. For, 
says he "of all gainful possessions, nothing is better, 
nothing more pleasing, nothing more delightful, notliing 
better becomes a well-bred man than agriculture." 

We are told by the same author, the greatest and wisest 
of all the ancients, that Cyrus presented himself to Ly- 
sander the Lacedemonian, as the Persian farmer, that 
it might be understood that nothing to him appeared so 
royal as the study of husbandry. And the Carthaginians 
had a maxim to this effect, that he to whose heart a city 
abode lies close, has no need of a country estate. 

The most distinguished men of this nation have been 
farmers, and the illustrious Washington, except when 
called by duty from his home to defend and direct his 
country's destinies, knew no other pursuit. While at the 
head of power his private letters shew that his heart was 



52 

at Mount Vernon, and he longed to lay his weary head 
beneath its peaceful shades. 

Jefferson was a farmer ; Madison was a farmer, and 
Webster was a farmer. As such, the "great orator" 
was exceedingly well informed, both by books, by obser- 
vation and by practice, and I have heard him express the 
wish that it might be his lot at some time, never to leave 
the borders of Marshfield, and the quiet scenes he there 
enjoyed, and which he always loved so much. 

As your employments are fuU of dignity, so are they 
full of importance. Without your labors, civilized man 
cannot exist, and society would be compelled to go back 
to the savage state from which it emerged, and depend 
upon the bow, the barbed hook and the spear. Garments 
from South Downs would give place to skins of animals, 
and all cultivated nature, now so rich and beautiful, 
would be overgrown with weeds and choked up by wild 
and noxious plants. 

You are here then upon this earth for a noble purpose- 
It is to improve and adorn it, and make it that glorious 
planet for which it was designed by its Creator. 

You are here also as patriots ; for the land-owner ha& 
a fire-side and a home to love, to preserve and forever de- 
fend. Your walks in your fields are none the less pleas- 
ant that they are made upon your own grounds, and that 
which you hold you will not be likely to give up, that the 
stranger may possess it with a strong hand. 

Your pursuits have also a tendency to purify the hearty 
while they clear and exalt the understanding, for a farm- 
er should have no debasing thoughts or groveling desires. 
He deals with creation, simple pure and beautiful, and 



53 

there he finds no warrant for depravity or the indulgence of 
unworthy passions. The young farmer too, has a vast ad- 
vantage over a professional man in this, that he can come 
to a competent knowledge of the business of his life at a 
comparatively early period. With his majority, his career 
is to begin, and he may then be full fledged for the flight 
which takes him out into the world ; and in later life 
when it is time to think of something besides the cares of 
business, the advantages of a rural life begin. 

*' I look '* says Addison, " upon the pleasure which we 
" take in a garden, as one of the most innocent delights 
*' in human life. A garden was the habitation of our 
" first parents before the fall. It is naturally apt to fill 
" the mind with calmness and tranquility, and to lay all 
" its turbulent passions at rest. It gives us a great in- 
*' sight into the contrivance and wisdom of Providence 
*' and suggests innumerable subjects for meditation. " 

If this be justly said of a garden, and who can doubt 
it, how much more appropriate is it, when predicated of a 
farm, of which the garden is only apart. Every farmer 
has his garden, but all gardeners have not farms. 

Again, Agriculture is the appropriate employment of 
declining years ; for it may be pursued to the very end 
of life. Not so the occupations of professional men, for they 
will find when the strength of their days is gone by, that 
younger and stouter rivals will hasten their descent, as 
they are traveling the do^vnward slope of hostile rivalry. 

I heard a short time ago, of a question put to one of 
the most energetic and prosperous merchants of New York, 
now in fuU career and who in age is approaching very 
nearly to four-score years. He was asked when he in- 



54 

tended to retire from business ? " Retire ? ** said he, 
** why should I retire ? where should I retire ? and to 
what ? Did you ever know a Farmer to retire ? " 

Here gentlemen is one of your consolations. You pursue 
an occupation so natural to man, that he can follow it all 
his days with undiminshed satisfaction. He has no rea- 
sons for asking " to xohat shall 7 retire ?" for he is in the 
possession of that enjoyment which furnishes no solace to 
the rich merchant who cherishes no taste for country life, 
and finds no pleasure but in the excitement of gain and 
the busy hum of reeking wharves and crowded counting- 
houses. 

He cannot say with Cicero, " I come now to the pleas- 
" ui'es of husbandmen with which I am exceedingly 
*' pleased, which are not checked by any old age, and ap- 
*' pear in my mind to make the nearest approach to the 
" life of a wise man. For they have relation to the Earth 
*' which never refuses command and never returns with- 
" out interest that which it hath received : and yet for 
my part it is not only the product, but the viiiue and na- 
*' ture of the earth itself which delight me, which when 
*' in its softened and subdued bosom, it has received the 
** scattered seed, first confines what is hidden within it ; 
*' then when warmed by heat and its own compression, 
*' it spreads it out and elicits from it the verdant blade, 
" which supported by the fibres of the roots gradually 
*' grows up, and rising on a jointed stalk, is now enclosed 
" in a sheath, out of wihch it pours forth the fruit of the 
" ear, piled in due order, and guarded by a rampart of 
*' beards against the pecking of the smaller birds. Why 
** should I, in the case of vines, tell of the plantings, the 
** risings and the stages of growth ? That you may know 



55 

" the repose and amusement of my age, I assure you 
" I can never have enough of that gratification. Nothing 
*' can be more rich in use or elegant in appearance than 
" ground well tilled, to the enjoyment of which old age is 
" so far from being an obstacle that it is even an invita- 
" tion and allurement." 

The Farmer has resources then, which are denied to 
people in other occupations ; — he has that which cloys 
not with time nor satiates by possession. His amuse- 
ments too are connected with his employments and all 
these may be enjoyed on this Island, and around it in a 
perfection rarely united on the face of the earth. 

Nothing can exceed the beauty of our natural scenery. 
Its combination of land and sea, of hill and dale, of wind- 
ing paths and devious walks, of healthful breeze and 
basking sunshine, cannot be found anywhere but within 
the clasping waters of our glorious Narragansett Bay. 

Here you are and here you sit secure. Your acres are 
your own. Your household gods are in your homes. 
Your hearts are fixed upon the prosperity of your country, 
and may God give you many days to possess and enjoy 
all the blessings he has bestowed upon this fair and most 
fivored land. 



